Applicant

Any person who has filed an application for a permit, map, or other matter and that is the record owner of the real property that is the subject of the permit, map, or other matter; the record owner’s authorized agent; or any other person who can demonstrate a legal right, interest, or entitlement to the use of the real property subject to the application.

Base flood

The flood having a 1 percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also called the "100-year flood").

Base flood elevation

the water surface elevation resulting from the base flood.

Basement

a building area that is wholly or partially below grade.

Breakaway wall

a wall that is not part of the structural support of the building and is designed and constructed to collapse under specific lateral loading forces without causing damage to the elevated portion of the building or supporting foundation system.

Channelization

artificial flood control works designed and constructed to contain all of a specified flood event; however, within the Coastal Overlay Zone, channelization also means the filling or substantial alteration of the floodplain.

CLOMR (Conditional Letter of Map Revision)

This letter from FEMA says whether the project, if built as planned, would be accepted. It doesn’t change the official flood map but indicates approval. FEMA charges a fee for this review. You can’t get a building permit based on a CLOMR alone because it doesn’t update the flood map. After the project is done, the community must ask FEMA to update the Flood Insurance Rate Map. This requires submitting “as-built” certification and other data.

CLOMR-F (Fill)

a letter from FEMA stating that a parcel of land or proposed structure that will be elevated by fill would not be inundated by the base flood if fill is placed on the parcel as proposed or the structure is built as proposed. Suspended as of August 13, 2020. Learn more here: FEMA Suspends the Initiation of LOMR-F/ CLOMR-F Cases in Six Southern California Counties | FEMA.gov

Coastal development

as defined in the California Coastal Act of 1976, Section 30106 in the Coastal Overlay Zone, which states: “’Development’ means, on land, in or under water, the placement or erection of any solid material or structure; discharge or disposal of any dredged material or of any gaseous, liquid, solid, or thermal waste; grading, removing, dredging, mining, or extraction of any materials; change in the density or intensity of use of land, including, but not limited to, subdivision pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act (commencing with Section 66410 of the Government Code), and any other division of land, including lot splits, except where the land division is brought about in connection with the purchase of such land by a public agency for public recreational use; change in the intensity of use of water, or of access thereto; construction, reconstruction, demolition, or alteration of the size of any structure, including any facility of any private, public, or municipal utility; and the removal or harvesting of major vegetation other than for agricultural purposes [and] … kelp harvesting. … As used in this section, ‘structure’ includes, but is not limited to, any building, road, pipe, flume, conduit, siphon, aqueduct, telephone line, and electrical power transmission and distribution line.”

Development

the act, process, or result of dividing a parcel of land into two or more parcels; of erecting, placing, constructing, reconstructing, converting, establishing, altering, maintaining, relocating, demolishing, using, or enlarging any building, structure, improvement, lot, or premises; of clearing, grubbing, excavating, embanking, filling, managing brush, or agricultural clearing on public or private property including the construction of slopes and facilities incidental to such work; or of disturbing any existing vegetation.

Elevation Certificates (EC)

forms used to provide necessary elevation information to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal floodplain management ordinances. This affects property owners who plan to build from scratch or make significant changes to their structure. A community may require an EC before and after construction. Property owner and/or community requests to update an effective flood map or Flood Insurance Study also call for ECs. A Letter of Map Change (LOMC) is necessary to change certain map findings—such as the flood zone, floodplain and floodway delineations, flood elevations and/or two-dimensional features—and an EC must accompany the submission.

Existing manufactured home park or subdivision

a manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed before August 15, 1983.

Expansion to an existing manufactured home park or subdivision 

the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).

Flood, flooding

a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from (1) the overflow of flood waters; (2) the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; (3) the collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge; or (4) by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined herein.

Flood fringe

all that land in a Special Flood Hazard Area not lying within a floodway, as shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps.

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)

the official map of a community on which FEMA has delineated the Special Flood Hazard Areas, the base flood elevations, and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

Flood Insurance Study (FIS)

the most current study published by FEMA in conjunction with the Flood Insurance Rate Maps. The study includes background data such as the base flood discharges and water surface elevations that were used to prepare the Flood Insurance Rate Maps.

Floodplain administrator

an existing local staff person, such as a building inspector, community zoning official, engineer or planner who helps run floodplain management.

Floodplain map

an ortho-photo topographic map published by the County of San Diego showing 100-year floodplain lines, floodway lines, and floodway water surface elevations, or floodplain hazard areas, on a 1-inch = 200-foot scale. The County "floodplain maps" and the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps are the primary basis for floodplain regulation within the County.

Flood proofing

any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures that reduce or eliminate the damage to a premises and its contents that would otherwise result from a flood.

Floodway

the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot. Floodway is also the area within a Special Flood Hazard Area, as shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps.

Floor

a horizontal, continuous, supporting, or non-supporting surface of a structure.

Highest adjacent grade

the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.

Historic structure

A functional construction that possesses historical, scientific, architectural, aesthetic, or cultural significance, usually made for purposes other than sheltering human activity (such as large-scale engineering projects, water control systems, transportation systems, mine shafts, kilns, ovens, lighthouses, and radio telescopes). Means any structure that is:

• (a) Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register.
• (b) Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
• (c) Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior or;
• (d) Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:
  • 1. By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior or
  • 2. Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.

LOMA (Letter of Map Amendment)

• an amendment to the currently effective FEMA map which establishes that a property is not located in a Special Flood Hazard Area. A LOMA is issued only by FEMA.

LOMR

• a letter from FEMA officially revising the current FEMA map to show changes to floodplains, floodways, or flood elevations.

LOMR-F

• a letter from FEMA stating that an existing structure or parcel of land that has been elevated by fill would not be inundated by the base flood. Suspended as of August 13, 2020. Learn more here: FEMA Suspends the Initiation of LOMR-F/ CLOMR-F Cases in Six Southern California Counties | FEMA.gov

Lowest floor

the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access, or storage in an area other than a basement area is not considered a building's lowest floor; provided, that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of any applicable non-elevation design requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations Title 44, Chapter 1, Part 60.3, as amended, or other City requirements.

Manufactured home

a structure, transportable in one or more sections, that is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The term "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle.”

Manufactured home park or subdivision

a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for sale or rent.

Manufactured home park or subdivision, new

a manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after the effective date of floodplain management regulation adopted by a community.

Market value

the current dollar value of a structure that is determined in accordance with procedures established by the City Manager.

New construction

structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after August 15, 1983, and includes any subsequent improvement to such structures.

Recreational vehicle

a vehicle that is:

• (1) built on a single chassis;
• (2) 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest possible horizontal projection;
• (3) designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty truck; and
• (4) designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.

Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA)

• any area inundated during the base flood as shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99, AH, VO, V1-30, VE, V, M, or E; also referred to as the 100-year floodplain
• an area in the floodplain subject to a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year, and shown in the list of areas above.

Start of construction

(1) the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site, such as the pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; (2) the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation; or (3) "substantial improvement" of an existing structure. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading, and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure.

Structure

an edifice or building of any kind or any construction built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner including a wall, fence, pier, post, sign, or shelter.

Substantial damage

(1) Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damage condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred; or

(2) Flood-related damages sustained by a structure on two separate occasions during a 10-year period for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such event, on the average, equals or exceeds 25 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. This is also known as "repetitive loss."

Substantial improvement

for the purposes of Sections 129.0104(c)  and 143.0146, any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other proposed new development of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement.

Violation

the failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with any SDMC ordinance. A structure or other development without the Elevation Certificate, other certifications, or other evidence of compliance required in this ordinance is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.